We walked through Liberty Bell Park Saturday on our way to Succat Hallel. It was a beautiful evening with the end of Shabbat approaching, so lots of families were enjoying the park. We decided to check out the playground to see if Sophie and Sam would approve. They’re connoiseurs.
We reminisced about taking our kids to this same park in the summer of 1983 when we lived in Jerusalem. Sure enough, the dragon statue they climbed on is still there, and we were pretty sure Sophie and Sam would be all over it. But that was nothing compared to the fountain. They would be in the water in a flash. Margaret would be chasing Sam as gracefully as she chased him down the aisle in the Catholic church a couple of weeks ago when he broke loose and was running full-speed toward the altar and the priest.
One of the things we were so impressed with in 1983 was the creativity of the playground facilities. The three-tongued monster slide–”the mefletzit” was our children’s favorite, and it’s still there in Kiryat Hayovel where we lived then. It was such a stark contrast to what we saw when we lived in Slovakia a while after the fall of communism, and we were saddened that there were no good places for children to play. Sophie and Sam would definitely not have approved of communist life.
